54 years of groundbreaking LGBT TV that shaped what we watch today

Metro

10 hours ago

In 2025, LGBT+ representation on TV still isn't perfect – but a lot of hard work has been done over the years to make sure things are better than they were.
To celebrate the work done to make TV more accessible for everyone in the LGBT+ world, Metro has compiled seven examples of storylines that made things that little bit better each time (with some honourable mentions).
From one of the first-ever LGBT+ characters on TV to groundbreaking British dramas of the 2000s, all the way through to a flagship 2010s Netflix series.
The storylines chosen for consideration all fall between 1968, when the Hays Code was abolished, and 2015, when same-sex marriage was finally legalised across the United States.
Implemented in 1934, the Hays Code rigidly enforced what was acceptable (and unacceptable) to be shown on TV in America, and it had far-reaching consequences in the UK as well.
In the days since the disgraceful and dated guidelines were finally repealed, TV has come a long way – here are some milestone episodes that got us here.
Across its eight years on TV between 1971 and 1979, American comedy series All in the Family gained a reputation for tackling tough subjects sensitively (for the era anyway).
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The series is credited with allowing the sitcom format to introduce more dramatic moments into episodic storylines while also dealing with serious topics in a lighthearted manner.
It didn't waste any time, with its fifth episode – titled Judging Books by Covers – examining LGBT+ themes and introducing somebody who is widely believed to be one of the first openly gay characters on TV.
In the episode, protagonist Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor) makes disparaging remarks about an effeminate man named Roger and presumes he must be gay.
However, later in the episode, Archie finds out that one of his old college football buddies, Steve (Phil Carey), is gay and learns a valuable lesson about how to treat other people.
The brave episode was controversial from the get-go, with sitting US President Richard Nixon accusing the series of 'glorifying homosexuality' with its content.
For its time, The Golden Girls had a subversive attitude from the beginning, focusing on four single, mature women sharing a house together in Miami, Florida.
It wasn't afraid to tackle weighty subjects either, and often deftly handled tricky topics for the 1980s, with the writers facing sensitive plotlines fearlessly and head-on.
In the season 2 episode Isn't It Romantic? – aired in 1986 – Dorothy (Bea Arthur) invites her friend Jean to stay at the house that she shares with Rose (Betty White), Blanche (Rue McClanahan), and Sophia (Estelle Getty).
Soon it's revealed that Jean is a lesbian and that she has a crush on Rose, which instantly rubs Blanche up the wrong way – not because Jean is gay, but because Jean fancies Rose instead of her.
The rest of the episode pokes fun at the scenario, but not at Jean's sexuality. Instead the script gets several big laughs out of how self-involved Blanche becomes.
It wouldn't be the last time The Golden Girls took a glance at LGBT+ themes, with future storylines analysing the topic from different perspectives.
To this day, The Golden Girls remains popular with the community, with one Reddit fan explaining: '[The girls] were confident, secure, and loved themselves for who they were. LGBT+ people who felt alienated with society identified with these outsiders.'
In 2023, IndieWire reporter Wilson Chapman said that TV show Frasier's queerness went far deeper than many viewers realised during its 11-year run between 1993 and 2004.
Originally conceived as a spin-off from Cheers, Frasier soon took on a life of its own and became a hugely successful and acclaimed comedy in its own right.
That process was helped along by episodes like season 2's The Matchmaker, which was originally broadcast in October 1994.
In the episode, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) invites a man named Tom for dinner at his home, unaware that Tom thinks the dinner is an official date between the pair.
Over the course of the episode, stereotypes about gay men are thoroughly deconstructed – the show's writers received a GLAAD Media Award for the show's portrayal of LGBT characters.
In 2022, Reddit user Barbourwhat explained: 'TV never really depicted [gay men] as what they are – ordinary people. Tom wasn't a cartoon version of gay people and Frasier didn't treat him differently. He was just another person.'
By its fourth season, TV executives for The Ellen Show were growing frustrated with its reluctance to depict Ellen Morgan's (Ellen DeGeneres) dating life.
To remedy this, they suggested to show writer Johnathan Stark that Ellen should buy a puppy in order to focus the show's plot and boost falling ratings.
Instead, Stark had another idea: sticking with the title The Puppy Episode, the writers began negotiating with Disney to have Ellen Morgan come out as a lesbian that week.
At the same time, Ellen DeGeneres came out in real life.
The buzz around the upcoming Puppy Episode was huge – major TV star Oprah Winfrey applied to be a guest actress on the show and, in 1997, said she would 'go to Hell' to defend Ellen's rights.
In an emotional scene from The Puppy Episode, Ellen confesses her sexuality to her new friend Susan (played by Jurassic Park star Laura Dern) and later reveals the truth to her friends and neighbours.
The episode was watched by 42million people (a series high) and was initially well received. But the backlash from some quarters was swift and horrible: The Ellen Show was slapped with a parental advisory warning and was cancelled a few months later.
Ellen and Laura Dern's careers also suffered in the aftermath – while Ellen was briefly blacklisted from TV, Laura was out of work for 18 months as a result of her association.
The backlash arguably proved the episode's point – that coming out can be tough to confront, hard to navigate, and unbelievably risky.
Section 28 – which prohibited the 'promotion of homosexuality' in British schools – might have been repealed in 2003, but its legacy deeply impacted kids in classrooms up and down the UK for years afterwards.
Not to mention that the 2000s saw a widespread increase in Islamophobia across the country, sparked by the War on Terror and further fueled by the news media.
Which is why it was vitally important for E4 youth drama Skins to focus on the story of openly gay teenager Maxxie Oliver (Mitch Hewer) and his Muslim best friend Anwar Kharral (Dev Patel).
Close friends for many years, Maxxie's sexuality doesn't appear to matter to Anwar at all. However, after finding out that Maxxie has secretly drawn intimate portraits of Anwar, the two fall out over Maxxie's sexuality conflicting with Anwar's religious beliefs.
Things come to a head in the season finale, when Maxxie refuses to attend Anwar's 17th birthday party unless Anwar tells his conservative dad, Istiak (Inder Monocha), the truth about Maxxie's sexuality.
When Istiak finds out, the two kids expect the worst… only for Istiak to comfort Maxxie. Istiak tells Maxxie that, while his beliefs have prevented him from understanding homosexuality so far, it won't always be that way.
The two friends make up and remain close until the first generation of the cast leaves college and starts their lives by heading off to different universities.
On Reddit in 2024, Jytsma said: 'The way the story was done was perfect. They are best friends, their beliefs should in theory oppose each other – but they love each other nonetheless.'
The Love Boat (1982) An early 80s episode of The Love Boat titled Gopher's Roommate has been celebrated for its sensitive portrayal of transgender character Rachel, played by cisgender woman Mackenzie Phillips.
One Life to Live (1992) Long-running soap opera One Life to Live introduced Billy Douglas in 1992, who became the first openly gay teenage character on American TV.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995) Groundbreaking season 4 episode Rejoined became famous for depicting one of the first ever lesbian kisses seen on American TV.
Friends (1996) Friends was never great for LGBT representation, but season 2 episode The One With the Lesbian Wedding is credited by fans with finally treating Carol and Susan like a loving, genuine couple.
The Simpsons (1997) In season 8 of The Simpsons, Homer's homophobia is exposed and his ways are changed thanks to loveable new friend John, played by none other than John Waters.
Coronation Street (1998) Hayley Cropper was the first transgender character to appear on a British soap. She was played by cisgender actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, who later accepted she wouldn't be able to play the role these days.
Queer as Folk (1999) Russell T. Davies' influential short-lived series about three gay men living in Manchester spawned a majorly successful American remake.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1999) Hush, a mostly silent episode of Buffy, has been called 'an elegy for its gays' as fan-favourite characters Willow and Tara begin what would become one of the first long-term lesbian relationships on TV.
The Wire (2002) Michael K. Williams' iconic stick-up man Omar Little was described as 'the most important queer character of the century' by TV critic Razvan Ion in 2023.
The Sopranos (2006) Season 6 episode Johnny Cakes, which depicted the love and romance in Vito's relationship with Jim, brought up the ugly resentment and homophobia of Tony Soprano and his crew and exposed them as being unable to adapt to the modern world.
Ugly Betty (2007) Season 1 episode Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a heartbreaking outing for Ugly Betty, as 'love to hate him' character Marc St. James unexpectedly comes out to his conservative mother.
Glee (2009) Adorable Kurt Hummel was one of the most recognisable faces on TV during Glee's early days, which is why his father's touching acceptance of his coming out warmed so many hearts 16 years ago.
Modern Family (2013) The season 5 premiere sees main characters Mitchell and Cameron celebrate the legalisation of same-sex marriage in California by proposing to one another.
Syed Masood (Marc Elliot) made his first appearance on EastEnders in 2009, a year after Christian Clarke (John Partridge) had come to Albert Square.
After initially marrying Amira Shah (Preeya Kalidas), Syed comes to terms with his sexuality and enters a relationship with Christian, despite the pressure from his family and his Muslim faith.
Wanting to avoid stereotypical storylines about homosexuality, writer Diederick Santer said Syed and Christian's story was 'more about the inner turmoil and conflict [they] endure'.
The storyline had a major impact on TV viewers, with Inside Soap readers voting Syed as their favourite member of EastEnders' Masood family in 2011.
Christian and Syed ultimately resolved their 'inner turmoil and conflict', marrying each other during a 2012 storyline and eventually moving to America to start their life together.
EastEnders producer Lorraine Newman thanked Marc and John and said: 'Their characters have been a huge success. Their storylines have broken boundaries that have not been seen in a soap before.'
In 2024, a Reddit user commented on the storyline, saying: '[Syed and Christian] got me into the show, so I've got a lot of love for them, particularly as I was a closeted gay teen at the time.'
While great strides were made with some queer storylines on TV in the 2000s, transgender representation in media was still a mixed bag (to say the least – and, honestly, it still is!).
2013 was a landmark year, though, thanks to the third episode of Netflix's flagship series Orange Is the New Black – titled Lesbian Request Denied and starring Laverne Cox as Sophia Burset.
OITNB initially told the story of Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), a privileged middle-class woman sentenced to time in prison for drug running.
Once there, she met an incredible ensemble of diverse characters who slowly but surely surpassed Piper – while Piper became just another inmate at Litchfield Women's Penitentiary, the stories of everyone else became far more important.
Among them was Sophia, a transgender hairdresser in the prison's salon, who had been jailed for using fake credit cards to pay for her medication and gender reassignment surgery. More Trending
Flashbacks show Sophia's life before prison – when she was a firefighter dealing with gender dysphoria, the subsequent collapse of her marriage, and estrangement from her son Michael.
Writing for The AV Club in 2013, Myles McNutt said of the episode: 'Sophia is elevated above Piper for a week as we learn Sophia's own story of becoming.'
The role of Sophia turned Laverne Cox into a star, eventually winning a Daytime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards for her work on the show.
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In 2014, Laverne became the first ever trans actress to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and the first transgender person to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine, for an interview titled 'The Transgender Tipping Point'.
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